The related US patent application mentioned above generally concerns capture of different audio channels by different and independent devices, for example capture of left, right and center channels by microphones on multiple different mobile handsets to record audio. These different channels may then be combined into a surround sound audio file. For a subjectively good and spacious-sounding audio recording, it is generally preferred that at least some of the microphones be spaced apart by up to several meters, and for surround sound the spacing should further be in more than one direction. Audio richness due to microphone spacing is especially improved if the microphones are omni-directional rather than directional. That co-owned patent application similarly discloses using cameras on two different mobile handsets to record left and right video channels for stereo video recordings; widely spaced cameras enable a better video depth and different handsets can provide a wider video base for capturing 3D video.
Now consider that there is a multi-channel audio file which a listener seeks to play back. Like spacing of the recording microphones, richness when playing back the multi-channel audio file is enhanced by having the loudspeakers also properly placed, but the audio file is of course not tied to any particular set of loudspeakers. Unlike for example fixed-location speakers in a home or commercial theater system which are set up with spatial relations in mind, the physical location of portable wireless speakers can be arbitrary. This can prevent the listener from experiencing an aimed spatial audio experience. Regardless of the listener's familiarity with specifics of audio technology, an aimed spatial experience is what people have come to expect from a 5:1 or even 7:1 arrangement for multi-channel audio related for example to watching movies. Hardwired speakers are typically spatially situated purposefully to achieve a proper surround sound. A similar spatial pre-arrangement of wireless loudspeakers with assigned audio channels tends to lose effectiveness over time when individual wireless loudspeakers are relocated away from the position designated for the surround-sound channel provided to it. The teachings herein address that deficiency.
Additionally, whether the loudspeakers are wired or wireless those previous audio systems that rely on pre-arranged spatial positioning of the speakers had the centralized host device that is handling the audio file (e.g., a conventional stereo amplifier or a host/master mobile phone) output different ones of the audio channels to different speakers or different speaker-hosting devices. These teachings also overcome that prior art feature, which is limiting if the speakers cannot be assumed to always remain in the same spatial position relative to one another.